The Killer Angels

Longstreet knows that the Union cavalry is closing in around his flank, so he sends orders to extend Hood’s division. He’s drinking coffee alone when Lee rides through the mist. He asks Longstreet to ride with him, so the two generals ride together toward the high ground. As they go, Lee tells Longstreet that he wants him to move his corps forward and take the hills, splitting the Union down the center. Ewell will attack at the same time, but Longstreet’s attack is the focus with Hill as his reserve. Unable to remain silent, Longstreet asks Lee if he expects him to take the same ground they couldn’t take yesterday after losing half his men and with so many officers down. He says that a frontal assault will be a disaster. Lee responds that the Union line will break. At that moment, they hear firing and turn toward the sound. They see that it’s coming from Ewell’s position, which infuriates Lee because it means Ewell isn’t following orders. He rides off to the left while Longstreet waits. After a short time, Longstreet receives a message from Lee that the Union attacked Ewell as he was getting into position.

With Meade going on the offensive, Longstreet now hopes that they can lure the Union out of the hills. When Lee returns, they ride silently to the lines. Lee asks a brigadier general if he could make the same attack he did yesterday, but the general says no because the Union is now entrenched and reinforced. Lee continues to watch the fight and then confirms that Longstreet will attack the center. He reminds Longstreet that he will have three divisions to work with, which is around 15,000 men. Longstreet looks up at the ridge and says that Hancock will be up there, which will be hard for Armistead. Lee ignores the comment and tells Longstreet that he may begin at any time, and Longstreet again tells Lee that the attack will fail. Lee interrupts him and tries to reassure him by explaining that he’s made some changes in command positions to help Longstreet in the attack; he is confident and excited about his plan.

Longstreet now returns to his staff and commits himself not to show any doubt about the attack. It is not quite noon. He can hear that Ewell’s fight is lessening, so he gathers his generals and gives them their orders for the attack, drawing in the dirt to illustrate the movement of each unit. He then walks the generals to the trees that provide cover for his troops and points to a distant clump of trees. This is the main target to keep everyone in the correct position for attacking the hill. When Longstreet finishes, the generals shake his hand and move to prepare their units. Longstreet rides with his staff out in the open and watches the Union line. He sees Armistead looking uphill toward Hancock’s wall. Lee says he and Longstreet should ride down the line again. Pickett joins them, so Lee shows him how to maneuver his men over the landscape and to the clump of trees. Longstreet looks up the hill and visualizes the battle; he doesn’t think they will succeed.

The generals continue down the line. The field is quiet. Longstreet stays at his position while Lee continues. They wait. Longstreet dismounts and sits against a tree with his head in his hands. He knows he can’t walk away, but he knows they won’t win. From a distance, Fremantle observes Longstreet, admiring his ability to sleep before battle.

Chamberlain moves his regiment into position as reserves at the center of the Union line. A message arrives asking him to report to General Sykes. Chamberlain has trouble walking, so the messenger allows him to ride his horse. They make their way to Sykes, passing a group of officers feasting on roasted chicken. Sykes asks Chamberlain about his bayonet charge, complimenting his job well done. He dismisses Chamberlain to rest as nothing will happen today. Before he leaves, Chamberlain asks Sykes for rations for his men. With the messenger gone, he limps back to his men and sees Meade and his men still eating the chicken. He pauses, and a lieutenant asks if he needs anything. He wants to ask for food, but his pride forces him to hesitate. He finally asks for food and because the lieutenant knows who Chamberlain is and what he’s done, he brings him three pieces of chicken. He eats one piece and takes the other two to his aide, telling him to find someone to share it with.

Tom arrives with the news that Kilrain died that morning. Kilrain told the men caring for him to tell Chamberlain goodbye, and that he was sorry. Tom reports that he didn’t die of his wounds but that his heart gave out, and this fills Chamberlain with a great sense of loss. Suddenly, a cannonball flies over them. Then another cannonball explodes, and a thick volley begins. The Union artillery returns fire. Chamberlain lies in the dirt to avoid being hit. He is so exhausted that he falls asleep. He awakes a short time later seeing Hancock riding the crest of the hill, and he knows that an attack is coming. He continues to lie on the ground, listening to the cannons. He falls asleep facedown.

At 1:07 p.m., Armistead watches the battle begin. He wanders through the field where his division is lying on the ground to avoid being hit by the Union shells. At 1:35 p.m., he moves off to be alone before the assault. He’s haunted by his last evening with Hancock and the vow he made to never lift a hand against his friend. By 2:10 p.m., the firing eases. Armistead sits against a tree patiently waiting for his time to come.

Eventually, Garnett joins him and Armistead asks about his leg. He says he’ll have to ride rather than march. Armistead is alarmed and reminds Garnett that he will stand out and be a target. Armistead knows that Garnett is trying to prove his honor. When they are done talking, Garnett says goodbye, turning his horse and galloping away without waiting for a response. Armistead prays for him to be protected and get his justice. Pickett arrives to remind Armistead of his orders. He asks Pickett to tell Garnett not to be part of the charge. Pickett can’t do that because knows that it’s a matter of Garnett’s honor. The two men ride together back to the woods on Seminary Ridge. They come upon Longstreet, and Pickett says that the time for the charge has come. Longstreet agrees, but Armistead sees that he is crying.

As Armistead returns to his men, he notices that the guns have gone silent. He moves his brigade forward into the open though still out of sight of the Union. He sees Garnett and again begs him to dismount. They shake hands, and he knows that Garnett is going to die. His brigade continues forward as the Union artillery begins again. Now that the Confederate line is in the open, Armistead sees that it is a mile long. He notices the growing confusion and broken lines as a result of the assault by the Union artillery. He keeps climbing the hill, pushing his men forward, but he begins to realize that they won’t make it. He is shot in the leg, but there is no pain, so he keeps walking. He sees Garnett’s horse, covered in blood, coming down the hill. The charge halts 30 yards from the wall covering the Union line, and Armistead knows they have failed. Regardless, he yells for his men to continue forward, reaches the wall, and climbs over. As he does, he is shot again but still feels no pain. He moves to a Union cannon that his men have taken, but he sees soldiers in blue closing in on them. He is hit again but feels only peace, happy that he made it over the wall. He can feel himself dying as Union soldiers gather around him. He asks a Union officer for information about Hancock. The officer says that he’s been hit. This greatly saddens Armistead, and he sees his soldiers retreating. He asks the officer to tell Hancock he’s sorry, and he slowly slips away.

Longstreet sits on a rail fence and watches the battle “dissolve to nightmare” (317). Smoke moves across the field and covers him, and as he watches, he sees soldiers emerge through the smoke, retreating from the battle. As the smoke clears, he sees the entire army falling back. One of Pickett’s officers rides to him and asks him for support, but Longstreet says that there is none to send and tells the officer to order Pickett to fall back. He then orders a battery to move forward and fire on the hill, protecting Pickett as he retreats. As he continues to watch, he realizes that the soldiers have died for nothing and that he sent them to it. He walks toward the field and sees Lee riding across it. Lee, who is not wearing his hat so the soldiers can recognize him, stops and talks to the retreating men. When he sees Longstreet, he rides to him and points east, explaining that the Union might attack from that direction. A bloodstained Pickett then rides toward them, and Lee orders him to reform his division. Pickett begins to cry and says he has no division left; all his colonels are wounded or dead and Armistead and Garnett are dead, as are most of his men.

Hearing this, Longstreet is furious and calls for his horse. He races forward to meet a group of Union skirmishers. A Union shell explodes in front of him, and rifle fire begins. His staff catches up to him and begs him to pull back. Longstreet orders guns into position, but the rifle fire stops, and he can see that the Union is pulling back. There will be no additional attack, and all guns have fallen silent; the battle is over. The remaining Confederate soldiers walk into the field and watch the sunset. They look up at the ridge and can see the Union forces cheering, though they cannot hear them. Longstreet then rides to his camp and notices that the army is quiet and still. He sees lightning coming in the distance. When Sorrel reports the losses of Pickett’s division, Longstreet knows that the army will never recover.

Lee eventually rides into Longstreet’s camp, but Longstreet doesn’t want to see him. He has no choice, of course, so the two generals walk off to speak alone. After a long silence, Lee says that the army will withdraw tonight under the cover of the coming storm. He asks Longstreet for his help, and Longstreet says that he’ll take care of everything. Lee says that the army will do better another time, but Longstreet disagrees and says that they can’t win the war now. Lee admits that he was wrong and that he needs Longstreet’s help to move forward. At the end of their conversation, Lee rides away as Longstreet gives the order to withdraw.

As night falls on the final day of the Battle of Gettysburg, Chamberlain leaves his regiment to be alone. He looks over the battlefield, knowing that he’s been part of a great moment in history. He visualizes the Confederate Army’s final charge and remembers the beauty of their mile-long line running toward him. Tom joins him and they talk, agreeing that the Rebels will attack again. They leave to return to the regiment as the storm settles over the area, washing the blood of thousands of men into the earth.